Writer, director, actor and fashion icon Tommy Wiseau unleashed The Room upon unsuspecting audiences in 2003, creating a film that would achieve cult status as one of the very best worst movies ever made. Wiseau’s filmmaking skills may have been wildly inept, but he was committed to his dream. Wiseau’s story, and the making of The Room, gets the biopic treatment in James Franco‘s The Disaster Artist, and an brand new trailer reveals an extend look at one of the year’s most anticipated films.

There used to be a time when summer was a dead zone when it came to finding good television. But nowadays there’s an overabundance of programming to be found at every turn. Netflix always has something cooking, which means broadcast and cable networks are trying to keep up with great fresh content of their own, and Showtime looks to have something great on their hands.

I’m Dying Up Here is a new one-hour drama series at Showtime that follows an ensemble cast of up and coming comedians in 1970s Los Angeles, when the art of stand-up comedy was seeing a surge in popularity from the stages of comedy clubs to being in front of the curtain on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. A new I’m Dying Up Here trailer showcases even more of the drama and laughs that come from trying to deliver a set that kills, and you can watch it below (but beware of some NSFW language). Read More »

Almost three years ago, James Franco optioned the rights to Greg Sestero‘s book The Disaster Artist, which the actor wrote about the experience of making The Room. The Room, of course, is director/writer/star Tommy Wiseau‘s cult midnight classic, a movie made with significantly more passion than skill. While we were hoping to see Franco’s film and Zeroville out last year, Franco’s behind-the-scenes look at The Room is debuting next month at South by Southwest.

Before The Disaster Artist premieres, there’s a new pic of Franco brothers from the film. Below, check out The Disaster Artist photo.

There have been plenty of great series on Showtime. However, personally, I’ve never felt compelled to subscribe in order to watch any of them. That might change with the cable network’s new series set in the world of 1970s stand-up comedy.

I’m Dying Up Here follows a group of stand-up comedians (played by Clark Duke, R.J. Cyler, Ari Graynor, and more) hoping to make it big at a time when stand-up comedy was one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the country. Every comedian was hoping to land an agent and end up on Johnny Carson, and if the Tonight Show host shook your hand and welcomed you to sit down, then you had it made.

The Room is one of the most fascinating bad movies ever made. Like so many examples of accidental outsider art (see the likes of Dangerous Men), here is a movie that isn’t lazy or lacking in passion – it’s just made by somebody whose burning desire to tell a story outweighs his talent on every conceivable level. The mainstream acceptance of The Room has been a double-edged sword for the film’s legacy. It is now one of the most famous stinkers of all time, but its status as an underground sensation has been tarnished by its move into the mainstream. Everyone can quote The Room, which dulls the mystique that powers so many cult favorites.

I’m absolutely fascinated by The Disaster Artist, James Franco‘s new film that will chronicle the making of The Room. I wonder if this look behind the curtains, brought to you by one of the most delightfully weird guys working in Hollywood at the moment, will restore the film as a B-movie oddity worthy of discussion or continue to reduce it to memes.

Long story short: Franco has revealed a first look as himself as The Room director Tommy Wiseau and a bunch of new people have joined the cast.

Obvious Child isn’t the kind of movie that spawns multiple sequels or a Marvel-style universe, but it is getting a follow-up of sorts. The team behind last year’s low-key charmer is reuniting for a new FX comedy, with Jenny Slate leading the cast. Get all the details on the Obvious Child FX comedy after the jump. Read More »

In the age of Facebook, finding out which of your high school friends got fat, rich, and/or married is a simple matter of entering their name into a search bar. But an entire movie centered around people “liking” baby photos or approving friend requests isn’t likely to be very exciting, so in 10 Years a group of old friends decides to actually converge in the flesh for their high school reunion.

The film’s bound to draw some attention for its cast alone: Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Lynn Collins, Rosario Dawson, Kate Mara, Chris Pratt, Ari Graynor, Justin Long, Anthony Mackie, Ron Livingston, Aubrey Plaza, Oscar Isaac, Scott Porter, and Brian Geraghty all star. Watch the first trailer after the jump, and make sure you stick around for the adorably awkward old photos at the end.Read More »

Offerings for raunchy but smart comedy have been thin this year, and just as Adam Sandler’s That’s My Boy hits theaters, it’s a good time to throw out the Sundance phone sex comedy For A Good Time, Call… as a possible option for anyone who wants some dirty laughs.

The film stars Lauren Anne Miller (who co-wrote) as a straightlaced yougn woman who settles into an amazing NYC apartment with a much more free-spirited girl played by Ari Graynor. Turns out that Graynor is running a phone sex line, because she scores a dollar per minute for taking girlishly while guys breathe heavy into the other end of the line.

Soon enough Miller is joining in, and the comedy writes itself from there. The new red-band trailer for Jamie Travis‘ film proves that there’s no shortage of raunch here; whether there’s anything more than that is open to question. Check it out below, and wait for the guest appearance at the end of the trailer. Read More »